Colette Sensier is a cultural researcher, semiotician, and strategist with nine years’ experience, including work for clients like Google, Coca-Cola, and Netflix. Recently, she’s focused on developing biosemiotics insights, especially on post-pandemic rituals and health behaviors. Colette co-leads the branding studio See Say Studio and holds degrees from Cambridge, East Anglia, and New Orleans. She's also a published poet, with her book Skinless by Eyewear Press.

Shae Zhao is a dynamic researcher specializing in market and user experience research. With a Master’s in Behavioral and Decision Sciences from the University of Pennsylvania and a Bachelor’s in Hospitality Management from New York University, Shae excels in leveraging data analytics, statistical analysis, and behavioral science frameworks to drive impactful user research. 

Shae’s experience includes leading projects on referral program dynamics, social media effectiveness analysis, and user strategy, combining academic rigor with practical research skills. As the founder of a Sexual Wellness Education Program, Shae demonstrates a passion for promoting equal access to care and health education. 

Brent Schimke brings a unique blend of entrepreneurial/intrapreneurial energy and operational expertise to the table. Whether he's working with venture-capital-backed start-ups or Fortune 50 companies, Brent is passionate about building transformational enterprises focusing on health and public safety for the last two decades.

Prior to Luminous, Brent served as COO and co-founded Datacubed Health, a B2B SaaS life-sciences tech company that has earned global recognition for its award-winning, patient-centric app for data collection in clinical trials. Under Brent's leadership, Datacubed Health achieved annualized revenue growth of 200-300% and secured venture capital funding, as well as certifications for HIPAA, GDPR, Good Clinical Practices (GCP/GAMP), and SOC2.

Yogi has worked at the intersection of environment and health for almost 20 years, bringing a rich background in public health and environmental philosophy to his endeavors. He holds joint appointments as a professor at a European business school within its philosophy department and as a researcher at one of the top medical schools in the United States. Yogi thrives on the intellectual tensions that interdisciplinarity brings, a hallmark of his distinguished academic career.

Yogi has an extensive publication record, with dozens of peer-reviewed papers across disciplines such as medicine, public health, semiotics, law, philosophy, and environmental history and policy. He is also the co-editor of two notable books: one on the societal implications of algae and another exploring food and medicine through a biosemiotic lens.

Susanna is an applied anthropologist and ethnographer with 25 years of experience, specializing in cross-cultural qualitative research. She focuses on immigrant communities, cross-border studies, and intergenerational dynamics, using interdisciplinary and participatory methods. Susanna holds master's degrees in cultural anthropology and interdisciplinary studies in Women’s, Gender, and Sexuality Studies, Latin American Studies, and Art.

Listen to an exclusive panel on biosemiotics and patient-centric care presented at the Society for Applied Anthropology (SfAA) Annual Meeting in March 2024.

Rosa joins Luminous as an Advisor in DEIB and Health Equity. She brings 25 years of experience in various sectors including Global Pharmaceuticals, Bioscience, Health Systems, Academia, Government, and Non-Profit, and has led change and cultural transformation initiatives worldwide.

Beginning January 2024, all client engagements will incorporate health equity considerations. To fulfill our commitment, we have partnered with Global Equity Learning who bring practical, academic, and government experience in change processes, practices, and policies that help to build equitable experiences and belonging for all.

In this podcast, Noël Theodosiou joins The Conference Forum Patients as Partners PharmaTalk podcast to discuss how she's working with life science companies to understand and contextualize the real world that patients live in to create therapeutics that fit in the environment to deliver actual impact.

Dr. Canale joins Luminous as an Engagement Lead where she will be responsible for leading projects and accounts for our life sciences clients, bringing transformative insights and strategies to drive health and business outcomes.

As primary caregivers, women’s attitudes to health play an outsized role in the health and wellness of families.

There is no doubt that we’re living in an era of intense, complex cultural dynamics. Not only does culture seem to be accelerating faster and faster, but so much of it is now spawned and remixed in online spaces, convoluting dynamics further. Additionally, with heated socio-political issues ranging from mental health and DEI to the climate crisis and war, wading into these territories requires sensitivity, which many would rather overlook entirely. However, as we know, companies do not operate in vacuums. They read, and write, culture. And there’s now harsh pressure, if not a responsibility, to actively participate in and help build shared preferable futures.

Upon re-opening after COVID, many commercial leaders have been focused on how to get sales reps back in front of healthcare providers. While some have suggested that face-to-face visits can be largely replaced by virtual ones, most agree that sales rep relationships with healthcare providers are critical and will continue to be their “superpower.”

Effective disease management, especially for chronic conditions, is multi-disciplinary, incorporating medication as well as lifestyle management.

US healthcare expenditures have almost doubled in the last two decades (2019 expenditure was up +178% versus 2000), growing from $1,366 billion in 2000 to $3,795 billion in 2019. Per capita expenditures have been growing at a slightly slower pace (+139%) in the same period, increasing from $4,838 in 2000 to $11,582 in 2019. Due to these rising costs, healthcare has continued to grow 33% faster than the overall US GDP, growing from 13.3% of GDP in 2000 to 17.7% of GDP in 2019.

Telemedicine is not new. Over time, telemedicine has been used to improve access and overcome inequality in healthcare. To date, however, telemedicine has underachieved its potential. Since the onset of the pandemic, telemedicine use has been driven by necessity. According to IQVIA, telemedicine increased from <1% of total US visit claims in January 2020, to a peak of 20% in the spring, and ended the year at 11%.

Healthcare solutions that enable self-management such as apps and devices have the power to reduce this economic burden and improve outcomes, particularly among chronic diseases. These solutions include lifestyle and behavior change support, medication compliance, and adherence, as well as prevention and screening.

As one of the most prevalent health conditions of our time, diabetes represents 11% of total health spend, approximately $880 billion globally. While many clinically efficacious diabetes medications exist, challenges remain. The most effective diabetes disease management is multi-disciplinary and includes lifestyle modifications around diet and exercise (patient management), in addition to compliance with medication regimens (disease treatment). The responsibility to manage all these elements falls to patients and caregivers.

The pharmaceutical industry has established a valuable and sustainable business model, successfully monetizing the development and commercialization of products. However, the risk of failure and its dire consequences have driven a conservative mindset, resulting in slowness to embrace technology, such as digital health and telemedicine solutions.

Much has been written about the impact of COVID-19 on US pharmaceutical sales in 2020. The overwhelming consensus is that the pandemic expedited a slow, but already present downward trend in face-to-face sales rep visits, and an associated increase in digital engagement.